Whats the Solution?

Fortunately,
FCC Chairman Julius Genanchowski has now said that the FCC will not authorize
commercial operations for LightSquared until the GPS interference issue is
resolved. The problem is that finding a resolution won't be easy or cheap. The
solution recommended by the government agencies studying the problem is for
LightSquared to move its operations to frequencies that aren't adjacent to GPS.
Considering the amount of money that LightSquared has sunk into its service,
this isn't a popular alternative.
The
other option most frequently mentioned is to equip all GPS receivers with
filters to block LightSquared or to design new GPS receivers and replace
existing receivers with new ones. Considering that perhaps there are hundreds
of millions of GPS receivers in the world that would be impacted, it's hard to
take this suggestion seriously, especially since it's LightSquared that's
creating the interference.

There
are other options: LightSquared can put filters on its transmitters. It can
only use the bottom half of its spectrum, which interferes less. It can use
lower power. It can use some combination of all three methods. Or it can be
sent to a different frequency band.

As
you can see, there are no really practical answers here. The tests that
demonstrated LightSquared's interference with GPS could have been conducted
years ago, long before the company had sunk an estimated $14 billion into the
project. The FCC could have been more responsible by requiring the tests to be
conducted before it let LightSquared begin building out its system. GPS makers
could have used their magical powers to see the future and designed around
LightSquared.
So
now clearly we're in a conundrum caused by the government's haste to see its
dream of broadband everywhere realized and caused by a disregard of obvious
consequences by a company in a hurry. There are no good answers, but perhaps
there's a workable solution.
First,
tell LightSquared that it can only use the bottom half of its spectrum for
transmitting its information and even there it can only do so in a way that
doesn't interfere with GPS in any way, even a little. This may mean reducing
power, filtering, antenna design and reducing the transmitter density. Next,
tell GPS makers that from now on they have to design their receivers with
better rejection of adjacent frequencies. After a decade or so, it should be
safe for LightSquared to ease into full operation, subject, of course, to
testing along every step of the way.
The
sad part is that a widespread means of delivering broadband communications is
badly needed, and had the FCC and LightSquared acted responsibly, we'd be
seeing it happen. But in a classic example of haste making waste, now we won't
see such a deployment for a long time, if ever.

Wayne Rash is a Senior Analyst for eWEEK Labs and runs the magazineÃÃÃs Washington Bureau. Prior to joining eWEEK as a Senior Writer on wireless technology, he was a Senior Contributing Editor and previously a Senior Analyst in the InfoWorld Test Center. He was also a reviewer for Federal Computer Week and Information Security Magazine. Previously, he ran the reviews and events departments at CMP's InternetWeek.

He is a retired naval officer, a former principal at American Management Systems and a long-time columnist for Byte Magazine. He is a regular contributor to Plane & Pilot Magazine and The Washington Post.